Hiking – Page 3 – Valerie's Voice

November Prairie

Walking through the prairie, on a cool November morning, was glorious.

The sky was interesting… blue patches in one direction, dark clouds in the other direction, with the sun trying to peek beyond the clouds.

We walked through the quaint cemetery at Valley Grove that leads to the prairie trails. We hiked the mown trails through tall grasses, stunningly gold in color, and as tall as us, in most areas.

We took the trail that leads down to the border of Big Woods State Park. As we walked along the edge of the park, it started to drizzle and I could hear the droplets landing on the dried leaves of the forest floor. It was a lovely sound.

Then the raindrops became heavier and we found ourselves walking in the rain…but only for a little while (and it was quite pleasant walking in the rain). The rain quickly stopped and soon the sun was breaking through in full force, and by afternoon the sky was cloudless.

We were in awe of the beauty of the golden grass on the prairie, with a slight wave in the wind, against different backdrops: two historic churches, the cospe of white birch trees, the state park and surrounding horizon.

We found our way to Hidden Falls 2 (for lack of a better name). The creek bed was dry and the water over the falls had frozen in place, into an immobile cascade. It seemed like time was standing still – until next spring, I guess. But, it too, had it’s own beauty.

We had the area to ourselves…no evidence of people or animals…and we continued to hike this on this splendid property maintained by The Valley Grove Preservation Society. I’m grateful for their work on behalf of this magnificent section of a Minnesota prairie.

A mown path through tall prairie grass, that doesn’t look so tall in the photo.

This is the corner of the Valley Grove cemetery where the beloved Old Oak Tree stood for 200 years, and was blown over during the 2018 tornado.

We were happy to get some fresh air and exercise before heading to downtown Northfield to support “Small Business Saturday”, where we did finish our Christmas shopping that afternoon…in the sunshine.

Cannon Valley Wilderness Park

Fungi. I looked up the definition and still not sure exactly what it is – but I learned there are 144,000 known species.

We saw a few of the species when hiking in the Cannon River Wilderness Area (north end) last week. We saw most of the fungi at the beginning of our hike, in the area where a swath from the 2017 tornado took down many trees. It seems to have created the right conditions for growth of fungi.

We had not hiked this trail since before the tornado came through. There is still evidence of the tornado including many downed trees at the beginning of the trail, and a new parking area.

The steep steps leading down into the park remained intact, but a new rope railing has been put in place, which is a good thing to help get up and down the precarious stairs.

This section of the Cannon River Wilderness Park seems to have been taken care of at one time, but now seems neglected…probably due to lack of funds. There were a few minor repairs to one of the bridges.

There are boardwalks over many swampy areas, but they are rotting away or warped, and sometimes dangerous to walk on. There is one newer bridge over the creek, built by a boy scout troop and installed in 2006 (according to the plaque).

There was a good stretch of boardwalk in the park.

The trail was mostly clear all the way to the Cannon River…then at that point one would have to somehow cross the river to get to the other side, which connects to the Cannon River Wilderness Area on the southwest side of the river. We turned around and retraced our steps.

There were obstacles on the trail…some large branches we had to duck under, and some logs we had to step over, and a few streams to jump over… or carefully step on logs or stones to cross.

We enjoyed this interesting hike with all its intricacies, and its intriguing fungi.

The next day we hiked in the Cannon River Wilderness Area on the south side of the Cannon River. We have wandered the paths in the southern section many times. The trails are tramped on more, and therefore, well-defined. There are many more routes to hike in this section, including one trail along the river, which is always pleasant.

We did not see much fungi in the southern section of the park, but this was a fun one.

Old Frontenac

Glorious fall days…blue skies, sunshine and colorful landscapes… continue to linger on and on. We like to take advantage of them…so not much gets done on the home-front…but those things will wait…we have winter ahead of us.

We headed east in the morning towards Frontenac State park, through beautiful farm country. Along the way, close to the fence, were the unique Dutch Belted cows laying in a field, soaking up the sun. What a pretty sight. I discovered these striking and unusual looking cows (and special breed), on a farm along County Road 9 a few years ago. I look for them whenever we pass their way. When I got out to take a photo, the girls became alarmed and most stood up…I was sorry to disturb them. They were all laying down again as we passed them on our way home several hours later.

Overlooking the Mississippi River from Frontenac State Park.

We continued to the state park and drove up to the Mississippi River overlook in the park. The river was lovely and calm. We hiked along the river for a while,

then we found the recently acquired section of the park and hiked hilly trails. The fall temperatures were climbing and we soon shed our jackets.

A newly acquired section to Frontenac State Park.

After hiking, we wanted to find a place near the water to eat our picnic lunch. We found a beach and boat landing in Old Frontenac, with a picnic table close to the water’s edge.

Perfect. We sat on one side overlooking the river and saw a couple of eagles, lots of gulls and swans, and a few boats. The water was calm and the sun was bright and I wanted to stay there all afternoon, but we had more to explore.

A beautiful mansion overlooking the Mississippi River in Old Frontenac.

An old stone fence surrounding the mansion.

A few years ago, when we camped at Frontenac State Park, we drove through Old Frontenac near-by. It’s a small village along the river….no stores, only unique houses on packed, dirt roads, an old cemetery, and a church.

One of several gated sections in the Frontenac Cemetery, established in 1867.

I have always wanted to walk through this town, or ride a bike, since you can see more than from a car. So we brought our bikes to ride through this quiet town, off the beaten trail. It was fun to ride around and look at unique houses…no cookie cutter houses here. And, riding through the old cemetery garnered thoughts of spooky stories, so close to Halloween.

Halloween decorations on a front porch in Old Frontenac.

Later that afternoon, as we drove back home into Northfield, we commented on how our town was still the most colorful place of all…with a lot of maples still full of red leaves hanging on.

Our neighbor’s tree outside our bedroom window.

Bike Trails and Fire Towers

We like to getaway and ride different bike trails. There are so many to choose from. This year we went to Pequot Lakes in northern Minnesota. Our first stop was in Crosby, Minnesota to ride our bicycles on the Cuyuna Trail System. These trails are well-known for mountain biking, but there is a nice paved trail to ride also.

Huntington Mine Lake is along one of the Cuyuna Trails.

The trail goes past old iron ore mine pits, which are now beautiful lakes, with no development on them. The mountain bike trails go through the woods, and a bicycle with special tires is needed. The mountain bike paths are red dirt, from the iron in the soil.

A photo of our group at Huntington Mine Lake.

After our trail ride we continued to drive north to Pequot Lakes, our destination. We planned to ride our bikes the next day on the Paul Bunyan trail, one of the longest bike trails in the state. The Paul Bunyan Trail used to be the Burlington-Northern railway tracks.

At the Paul Bunyan trailhead in Pequot Lakes.

We rode a small portion of the trail. The weather was hot and humid, but the portion of the trail we rode was shaded and scenic, with surrounding lakes. We’re grateful for the many wonderful trails that have been created on old railway lines.

Above the tree line on the fire tower in Pequot Lakes. I’m in the red shirt.

The third morning we decided to hike in Paul M. Theide Fire Tower Park. The DNR recently acquired this land to create this park to protect the historic fire tower there. The small park is lovely with a nice picnic pavilion and a few trails that lead to the fire tower. The tower, built in 1935, is accessible to climb if one is so inclined. I learned this is the second tower to be built on this site. The first was a wooden structure built in 1927. The current tower is in excellent shape (no carvings in the wooden steps). I climbed up four flights (of eight) and was already above the tree line and could see for miles. Unfortunately, I left my camera down at the bottom.

Climbing the tower brought back memories of vacationing with my parents and friends in cabins on Rainy Lake in the 1960’s. There was a fire tower within walking distance of the resort where we stayed. We would climb the tower every year, several times during the week. I do remember some of us kids carving our names in the wooden steps. Whoops.

Several years later we went up to see the resort at the end of the road, Highway 11 East out of International Falls, and the fire tower was fenced in and locked up. I learned it’s called the Black Bay Fire Tower, or Rainy Lake Fire Tower, and it was built in 1939. I couldn’t find much more information online about this tower.

The historic fire tower in Paul M. Thiede park.

There is another accessible fire tower in Itasca State Park which we have climbed a few times; once with our two sons when they were younger, and a few times over the years when we’ve camped in the state park.

A few dozen fire towers remain in Minnesota. At one time there were 120-150 in the early to mid 1900’s. At that time there were about 5,000 fire towers throughout the United States. A majority of the “second generation” fire towers were built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in the 1930’s. These towers were built of galvanized steel and included steps. Earlier towers were made of wood and used ladders to access the cab. As airplanes and modern technology took over the task of spotting wildfires, many towers were taken out of service.

I’m grateful for organizations that have insight and resources to re-purpose railway lines and preserve fire towers.

A beautiful hibiscus bloom on the hotel patio.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The weather predicted for our time in Great Smoky Mountains National Park was rain. But our plans were set and we were going to stop there for three nights on our way to visit our son and his family in North Carolina.

So when we had beautiful, mostly sunny days while in the park we were grateful. We stayed on the “peaceful side of the park”, as Townsend, TN boasts. And the cabin we rented was less than a mile from the park entrance. We liked the location.

The lookout at Clingman’s Dome, the highest point in the park.

The GSMNP is busy, one of the most visited parks in the US. There is no entrance fee, which is unusual for a national park. There were a limited the number of people allowed in the visitor’s center so we never did get into one because of the long lines.

The park is lush green this time of year…so many shades of green. The road through the park follows the Little River and that added to the beauty.

We did some hiking in the park…to Clingman’s Dome (the parking lot fills by 9 am) and to Laurel Falls (same deal for parking) and other smaller hikes.

One day we ate lunch in a wonderful picnic area, and drove through Cade’s Cove (an 11-mile loop through an 1800’s farming community in the park) at twilight on two different nights.

Gary and our car in the background for perspective of how tall the tree are.

The first night in Cade’s Cove we saw some deer, but on the second night we saw one owl and five black bear. One bear was in a tree, a mama bear with two cubs crossed the road in front of us (we were third car back) and the fifth bear was walking into the woods. The Barred Owl was sitting on a tree branch. They were all exciting to see.

On our last evening, as we drove out of the park back to our cabin, it started to rain.

Pretty in the mist…leaving the park…on our way to North Carolina.

Three Rivers and a Waterfalls

Over the past few days our activities, unintentionally, took us to three major rivers.

Our first hike was at Ft. Snelling State Park. Gary and I have a long, but brief, history with this park. When we first met in 1976, Gary was in the habit of hiking in this park. At that time, he had taken an awesome photo of the Mendota Bridge from a unique perspective and had it printed and framed in a 8X10 format. He gave me a copy when we first met. And, then he took me to this unique park in the heart of the city.

Current view of the Mendota Bridge from Ft. Snelling State Park.

I don’t remember the trail but I remember the hike because we walked to the confluence of the mighty Mississippi River and the Minnesota River. This was years ago. There were a few times we stopped at the park since then, after we had children, to visit the beach area. And we’ve been to the historic Ft. Snelling itself, which is interesting, but we didn’t hike on Pike Island again until this day, 45 years later. (It’s kind of hard to wrap my head around that).

The confluence of the Mississippi (on left) and Minnesota rivers.

On Pike Island, one side of the trail leads you along the Mississippi River. You approach a point, with a sandy beach, which is the confluence of two major rivers: Mississippi and Minnesota. Then you turn and walk back on the other side of the island, along the Minnesota River. It’s a 3.7-mile loop.

The wildflower: Trillium, found at Ft. Snelling State Park.

It was interesting to be at Ft. Snelling state park a few days after my jaunt in Nerstrand Big Woods where I saw multitude of wildflowers. There were very few wildflowers on Pike island, although I did see a trillium, which I hadn’t seen at Nerstrand.

There were, however, many huge trees on the island, and many of them had hollow spots. It was an interesting trail.

Just a couple days later we were at Interstate State Park, near Taylors Falls. Again, drastically different from both Fort Snelling and Nerstrand Big Woods state parks. This park offered many glacier formations and a scenic view of the St. Croix River. We hiked along the St. Croix River for a couple of miles. The sandstone cliffs tend to make this area of the river very scenic.

Another view of the beautiful St. Croix River from Interstate State Park.

As we entered Interstate state park there was an information sign that read, “Looking for Taylors Falls? There is none.” Although Taylor Falls is the name of the town, there are no falls there. However, the sign told of the nearest falls 10 miles away in Osceola Wisconsin, so we ventured there to explore. We had been to Interstate many times over the years and knew there were no falls in Taylors Falls, but we did not know about the Cascade Falls in Osceola.

They were very pretty…full, wide and cascading. We walked down flights of stairs provided by the city of Osceola, to the falls and then proceeded to hike a quarter mile away to the St. Croix river to see the river from another perspective other than Interstate park. The falls and surrounding area was a fun discovery.

A Wildflower Walk

Hidden Falls in Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

Years ago my friend and I went on several wildflower walks with a naturalist and learned the names of wildflowers. I still recognize many of the flowers, and remember some of names, but have forgotten many too. None-the-less, I love walking through the woods, looking at the spring wildflowers.

I qualify these walks as walks, not hikes, because it’s a slow, meandering pace. On this day, I took a lot of photos of the flowers in hopes of identifying the ones I didn’t remember, from my books at home. I think I identified most of these correctly. It was definitely a fun exercise.

One of the flowers I’m always thrilled to see is the dwarf trout lily. I know a spot where one, yes – one, blooms and I look for it every year. Sometimes I miss seeing it in bloom, but I didn’t miss out this year. Dwarf trout lilies only bloom in three counties of Minnesota, and no where else on earth. That’s fascinating to me.

The dwarf trout lily…kind of hidden in this photo…bottom third, left of center…tiny bloom.

Putting my finger near the dwarf trout lily bloom, for perspective.

However, the white trout lily is prolific…and carpets the ground many places throughout the park.

The white trout lilies one of two wildflowers that was a ground cover in this park

My all time favorite wildflower is Spring Beauty. I love the delicate pink flowers.

Some wildflower names seem sensible, others are odd and not very “flowery’…There is one called bloodroot, but I didn’t see it…I believe it’s done blooming.

According to lists from the park office there are many wildflowers in the park that, of course, bloom in different seasons. I have always focused on spring flowers.

“There is poetry among the wildflowers.” (Rachel Irene Stevenson) I enjoyed the poetry of the wildflowers this day.

The may apple bud..underneath the foliage…this is ready to bloom into a white flower. You have to look underneath the leaves to find the bloom.

A carpet of rue anemone covered several areas of the ground in the park.

Another quote: “Wildflowers aren’t meant to be cut & tamed. They’re meant to be loved & admired.” (Anthony T. Hincks) I do love and admire the wildflowers.

Nerstrand Big Woods State Park is a wonderful place to look for wildflowers. I believe it’s one of the best parks, near Northfield, to see so many spring wildflowers in bloom. It sure showed off it’s finery the day I went for a wildflower walk there.

A Hike in the Desert

When we travel, we like to find area trails to hike and get out in nature. The friend we visited in Arizona likes to hike too, and had a trail in mind for when we came to visit.

The beginning of the trail…we hiked away from this formation.

Due to limited luggage space we didn’t pack our hiking poles or hiking shoes. We took along our good walking shoes, our sun hats, and sunscreen. We knew our friends would provide water bottles for us.

Cacti growing on the slopes, in place of trees.

We set our alarm to get up and get on the trail early one day, before it got too hot to enjoy the hike. (It was hotter than normal when we flew out to Arizona in early April, highs were in the 90’s, but it cooled down significantly at night). We drove to the trailhead (past long-horn cattle roaming) to the Superstition Wilderness in the Superstition Mountain area.

It was a lovely morning for a hike…clear, blue skies and a nice, cool temperature. We stopped to take photos of the unique and open desert scenery…so different and fun to see. My friend likes to take pictures so it was no problem stopping whenever we wanted to capture a moment…she understands.

On the drive to the trailhead our friend was telling us about her hiking club she joined when she moved to Arizona a year and a half ago. In addition to plenty of water (a staple for hiking anywhere) she learned to carry a fine-tooth comb with her on desert hikes…just in case you have a run in with a cactus.

Well, of course, that happened to me. We were well into our hike, taking pictures of the cacti in bloom, and I got excited about this beautiful, blooming cactus and started taking photos. I could get a better angle if I moved around a bit and, sure enough, I brushed up to a very prickly cactus and a clump stuck to my ankle, through my sock, as I jumped away. It’s called the Teddy-Bear Cholla and I had admired it previous to our hike. The Teddy-bear Cholla looks so cuddly…but it’s not! Thankfully my friend had followed the advice from her fellow hikers and put a comb in her backpack.

My only photo of the Teddy-Bear Cholla. There are others that look more cuddly than this one. This is not the one I bumped against.

It worked slick! Many prickly needles came out easily with the comb. There were a few strays that I took out with Duct Tape when we got back to her place. It was quite comical that we would need a comb after her telling us about it on our way to the trail.

The hike in the desert was unique and strikingly beautiful. We enjoyed it…and learned something too.

Imaginary Door

A few weeks ago we were hiking in a wooded area in Faribault and came across an intriguing sight. It made us stop in our tracks to investigate…

From the trail we noticed this secret door…

It looked like two roots from a large, tall tree that had grown down a cliff and into the soil at the bottom leaving an opening exposing the rock cliff. It formed a beautifully-shaped, arched doorway, and it was the size of one too.

We saw this from the trail at the bottom of a rock wall but we didn’t see an easy way to get to the top of the wall, and we were not equipped to go rock climbing that day. We left the trail and walked closer to the tree to inspect how the split trunk/roots were attached to the rock and found they were growing into the rock. It looked like the rock was sandstone so it seemed possible.

Perspective as to how large the fissure is.

We wondered how it grew to be this way. It was a fun and curious discovery. Gary went and stood in the opening to show perspective to its size.

It lends to one’s imagination of opening an adult-size fairy door and entering through the tree to mystical and charming wonderlands inside…

Someday I’d love to go back and strategically attach a door knob to the rock door…

A Weekend Away

We had a great weekend up in northern Minnesota with only one disappointment…but there could have been more.

We could have been disappointed when our camping reservations, made long before Covid was on the scene, had to be changed… because of Covid. A Jay Cooke State Park ranger called and told us they had to cancel one night of our stay in the camper cabins to let the cleaned cabin “rest” between renters.

Looking up at the Two Harbors lighthouse from the shore.

But that led us to making reservations at the Two Harbors Lighthouse B&B which usually requires a two-night stay but the innkeeper let us stay for just one night. So the cancellation of a night’s stay at a camping cabin turned into an exciting addition of staying in a historic lighthouse!

We could have been disappointed with the unusual cold weather spell for late October… the highs were only in the 20’s, but the sun was out and we had warm clothes.

From a wam & charming B&B to a cute, snow-covered but toasty warm camper cabin.
Photo by gb

With warm places to sleep – the lighthouse was cozy and our camping cabins were toasty warm – we went with the mantra: “no bad weather, just bad clothing.” We brought sufficient jackets, boots, hat, scarfs and mittens and stayed warm while hiking and enjoying the great outdoors.

The lower falls at Baptism River in Gooseberry State Park.

We hiked at Gooseberry State Park and Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, and in Two Harbors itself.

Hiking in the Split Rock Lighthouse State Park.

Our first night, from the Two Harbors Lighthouse B&B, we saw a ship in the night right off shore. It had left the harbor and was all lit up, sailing under an almost full moon.

Our camping cabin was in Jay Cooke State Park where there are a lot of wonderful views of vast wilderness areas and of the rocky and rugged St. Louis River. We had great meals and campfires and hiked over seventeen miles in four days.

The St. Louis River flowing through Jay Cooke State Park.

What, then, was our disappointment?

Our exciting lighthouse reservation was at the Two Harbors Lighthouse B&B overlooking Lake Superior’s Agate Bay.

The lighthouse was charming and beautifully appointed with antiques and we loved the idea of staying in this historic home.

The website says it is the oldest operating lighthouse in Minnesota. It began operation in 1892.

However, there was no light illuminating its special code out over the dark waters from the tower that night. Why? We didn’t know, and we were disappointed.

The original Fresnel lens on display in the dining room. The Fresnel lens consists of mirrored prisms that rotated around a fixed flame supplied by oil…until 1921 when the lighthouse started using electricity.

The next day we talked with the innkeeper and she said they are waiting on a new LED bulb for the lighthouse so the lighthouse is not operating at this time.

According to the website “the Two Harbors Light Station is designated as an active aid to navigation and is on navigational charts, as well as being a museum.” Apparently it’s not crucial for a light to be shining 24/7 these days, although usually it is on.

The light in the tower of the Two Harbors lighthouse is currently not lit.

We had been all excited to be “Keepers of the Lighthouse” but alas, it was not to be. We had a wonderful time anyway, and we wouldn’t change a thing – except the light bulb!